Surgeons, doctors, nurses, and other medical personnel often handle and/or work with sharp instruments which pose cut and puncture risks to the hands and arms of the person handling the sharp instruments. The prior art discloses several puncture-resistant protection devices to prevent punctures to the fingers and hands of medical personnel as they use sharp instruments. Such prior art devices are often bulky, do not conform to the shape of the user's digit, and extend over one or more of the joints of a user's digit. However, medical personnel, and surgeons in particular, usually need such protection devices to allow for normal range of motion, dexterity, and tactile sensation of the hand and digits, such that medical procedures requiring fine motor skills and precise movements are not negatively impacted by the protection device.
Further, due to the increased awareness of the medical community of blood borne and other infections diseases, such protection devices typically aim to protect a user not only from immediate physical injury, but also from becoming infected with a disease-causing agent, such as hepatitis, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), bacterial infections, sexually-transmitted diseases (STDs), herpes, and other viral and bacterial agents and/or substances. Additionally, in some applications, the user's hands may also need to be protected from injury and from exposure to heat and/or chemical agents, such as acids, alkaline substances, medications including chemotherapy drugs, disinfectants, biocidal substances, corrosive agents, detergents, alcohols, and the like.
Medical gloves are well known in the art and are typically made of polymers such as latex, nitrile rubber, vinyl, and neoprene, or other similar barrier materials adapted to protect the user's hands from biological agents. Medical gloves include examination gloves and surgical gloves, which are typically sterile and manufactured to a higher standard than examination gloves. Such gloves, however, fail to provide sufficient puncture-resistance, and may be punctured and/or cut during medical procedures.
Therefore, a need exists in the prior art for a digit tip protection device which is capable of protecting the digit tip from punctures and cuts, while at the same time conforming to the shape of the user's digit and not extending over the joints of the digit to maintain as much of the natural dexterity and tactile sensation of the user's digit as possible. It is to such a digit tip protection device that the inventive concept disclosed herein is directed.